LED Trailer Lights

[donaldj2242]

Installed 56 bulb LED tail lamp lights on my trailer. Running lights work fine but stop and turn lights flash fast and very dim. Heard I have to install a resistor on stop and turn wire or replace the flasher on the bike to a LED Flasher. Anyone with the best fix and where is the flasher, have searched under the seat with no luck.

[sleepy2]

I have(before accident) 87 Venture and had bulbs changed to I think I put in 57bulbs That's what my lights take(have turn and brake lights) in my trailer.I think I had sort of the same problem. So I bought the Led trailer tail-light kit--very bright and show up great(have at least 20-30 lights in there) and had no problems after--worked just fine. I have Road-star now and no problems now with it. Didn't have to put any resistors at all. Hope this helps.

[Yeah, Just Dale]

Installed 56 bulb LED tail lamp lights on my trailer. Running lights work fine but stop and turn lights flash fast and very dim. Heard I have to install a resistor on stop and turn wire or replace the flasher on the bike to a LED Flasher. Anyone with the best fix and where is the flasher, have searched under the seat with no luck.

 

I replaced my turn front signal bulbs with an LED replacement (from Custom Dynamic) and they flash fast. That was no surprise and I've just left it rather than mess with a resistor - you can tell what my intentions are. But onething I didn't expect is the bulbs are "on" and bright, and they flash by cutting off completely, rather than being "on" and flashing brighter. They still blink, and get the point across that I'm turning and at first you can't quite put your finger on what's different. Anyway, maybe what you're thinking is "dim" flashing is the LEDs going dark to flash. Just a thought.

[darthandy]

The quickest easiest way to solve the problem is to install resistors made for these lights. The flasher is flashing "fast" because the LED's use far less electricity than the incandescent bulbs did so the flasher is now too "strong", so to speak. The guys at http://www.superbrightleds.com have these resistors for sale but you may have to tell them what the details of your bulbs are to ensure you get the right resistor. I'm sure there are other places to obtain thme but Super Bright is who I have dealt with so I'm more familiar with their products. Hope this helps.

[Snaggletooth]

Ok, maybe I'm off the train of thought here so I'm going to ask a few questions. As you stated you added LED's to the trailer, right?

 

Have you changed out the OEM brake or turn lights on the bike itself for LED's?

 

If you have NOT changed out the bikes OEM bulbs and you are only changing the lights to LED's on the trailer it should not effect the flash rate at all. The system already has sensed that the current draw is correct due to the OEM bulbs and that should be fine. Plugging in the trailer with LED's will not affect that reading (due to the very low draw from the LED's on the trailer) and should function as always.

 

I have played with this a bit on my bike adding LED's to the OEM turns and brake circuits and found no issues with the flash rate. I'm getting ready to install a hitch on my bike so I've been playing with the wires and lights.

 

Am I missing something here?

 

Mike

[Flyinfool]

We need more info on your setup.

Is the trailer wired for 4 or 5 wire?

Does the trailer use the same bulbs for both the brake lights and the turn signals or are they separate bulbs?

Do you have a trailer light converter installed on the bike? If so which one?

 

I just finished setting up my bike to pull a trailer with all LEDs and the flash rate is the same with or without the trailer connected all lights very bright when they should be and no light at all when they should be off. As it should be.

[donaldj2242]

Yes, trailer is a 4 wire, Yes, trailer uses the same bulbs for both the brake lights and the turn signals, Yes, 5 to 4 wire trailer light converter installed on the bike, got it from U-Haul.

[Mel]

I'm not sure about the electronics involved on these bikes, but---

 

Used to be that when adding a trailer to a car or pick-up, I had to change the flasher to "Heavy Duty". The OEM flasher was designed to handle a specific load and when the load changed (ie: a bulb burned out or trailer lights added) it would flash much faster. This was to alert the driver that something had changed. The problem was solved by replacing the flasher with a Heavy Duty one that always flashed at the same frequency. But you then had to inspect the lights for proper function because you would no longer get an indication that something had changed.

 

May something like this would solve your problem.

[Flyinfool]

Yes, trailer is a 4 wire, Yes, trailer uses the same bulbs for both the brake lights and the turn signals, Yes, 5 to 4 wire trailer light converter installed on the bike, got it from U-Haul.

 

The converter is most likely your culprit.

Not all converters are compatible with LED lights.

Some of the converters (especially older designs still in production) actually reverse the polarity of the bulbs depending on the present mode of operation. With incandescent bulbs it does not matter, they do not care about polarity, LEDs do care about polarity. If the package for the converter does not say LED compatible, you have a 50 / 50 chance as to weather it will work correctly.

 

You want a converter that uses its own power source.

If your converter does not have a separate power wire that goes direct to the battery then all of the trailer lighting power is going thru the bikes electrical system. The bike wiring and flasher circuit was not designed to handle the extra current. You could go to an electronic flasher on the bike, and/or play with adding resistors till you get it to work, but that will take some custom wiring and messing around on your part, and your bike will then be set up for that specific trailer.

 

The converter that I have was only $18 at a local marine supply store, and it said on the package "LED compatible".

I will check as soon as I get a chance to see what the model number is.

Edited May 24, 2011 by Flyinfool

[Flyinfool]

The Converter that I used is a Curt P/N 56146.

Edited May 24, 2011 by Flyinfool